Gov. Wolf to ease COVID-19 restrictions on bars, restaurants and crowd limits
Observer-Reporter
Mike and Lori Coury, owners of River House Cafe in Charleroi, are shown in this 2018 photo.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Wild Things general manager Tony Buccilli sits in the stands in 2019. Buccilli is among the many who eagerly awaited Monday's news that the governor was easing COVID-19 restrictions, enabling fans to return to the ballpark this summer.
Gov. Tom Wolf said Monday he will ease COVID-19 restrictions on bars, restaurants and crowd sizes with new cases declining and more people getting vaccinated against the virus.
Wolf’s order becomes effective April 4 and will allow patrons to once again sit at bars and increase gathering sizes at such locations as gyms, casinos and theaters.
“It’s time to allow our restaurants, bars and other service businesses to get back to more normal operations,” Wolf stated in a news release.
He said Pennsylvania rose to the challenge to curb the spread of the virus, and that the state’s allotment of vaccines continues to increase.
Nearly 55,000 school employees have been given the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine since Thursday under massive efforts carried out by the Pennsylvania National Guard and Intermediate Units.
“Things are getting better and better,” Wolf said during a press conference broadcast Monday from an IU in Berks County.
Wolf said bars will be allowed to serve alcohol without the purchase of food, and that indoor seating will be raised to 75% of occupancy for restaurants that have self-certified their COVID-19 compliance.
Social distancing and mask-wearing requirements will remain in place.
Mike Coury, owner of the River House Café in Charleroi, called Monday’s announcement “uplifting” after his restaurant has been complying with all of the state’s restrictions that included two shutdowns last year. He’s noticed that many longtime customers who are now vaccinated are starting to feel safe coming back to his restaurant as they return to public settings.
“The vaccine itself is making people feel confident, especially the older people,” Coury said. “But I think people are still going to be hesitant. I always believed people have to make their own choices. Whether they feel confident to go and sit at a bar, we’ll have to wait and see. We’re optimistic it’s going to work, but we have a wait-and-see attitude.”
Coury’s staff is now back to pre-pandemic levels after he hired workers that were furloughed for most of last year. He said the restaurant wanted to get them working again to ensure other businesses didn’t hire them first.
Coury is glad to have more capacity that will allow him to seat people at the bar again, although he lamented the past year that decimated the restaurant industry.
To me, I want to say it’s been a mess, but I don’t have the info these other people have. So it’s hard for me to say … because I don’t have that info,” he said. “To me, I just think it was a huge overreaction.”
The expanded capacity will help places like The Meadows Racetrack & Casino in North Strabane. But the easing of bar restrictions and relaxing the 11 p.m. alcohol curfew is even more important, according to Samantha Maskrey, the casino’s marketing manager.
“It’s exciting news because we get to open up more bars on our casino floor,” she said. “It’s better news for them for outdoor events.”
The casino will now be able to seat people at its indoor bars and also hold outdoor events, such as the annual Derby Days celebration during the Kentucky Derby, she said.
They will continue to encourage social distancing and keep partitions on gaming machines, while also taking temperature checks of employees and patrons entering the facility.
Meanwhile, indoor events will have a 25% maximum occupancy and outdoor events will be allowed for 50% maximum occupancy.
That will help organizations like the Washington Wild Things, which will be able to invite fans back into their stadium for their first home game June 4. Tony Buccilli, the team’s general manager, heard rumblings Monday morning about the outdoor capacity expansion, but wasn’t ready to make any plans until the announcement was official.
“We were sitting here with our fingers crossed,” Buccilli said.
Wild Things Park’s official capacity is 4,200 – that includes seats, luxury suites and lawn seating – meaning they could have as many as 2,100 people in the stadium. But they also have to account for staff, players and other visitors, so he’s expecting they will be able to sell 1,400 to 1,600 tickets per game.
The staff is currently working with season ticket holders and will have to spread fans out so they continue to be at least six feet apart from each other while at the stadium. Individual tickets may go on sale in May.
“For a long time we had more questions than answers,” he said. “The time frame will be tight, but we’ll be OK.”
Buccilli thinks this season will offer the “normal, fun and engaging Wild Things experience” that fans have come to expect in previous years.
“I think we’re really excited for the organization, the staff and my players. The most beneficial will be for the fans and local communities,” he said. “There’s been a lot of communication with their eagerness to come out and see their friends at the ballpark again.”
The state reported 14 new virus deaths over the weekend, including three in Washington County, one in Greene County and two in Fayette County.
The virus has claimed 24,587 lives in Pennsylvania since March 2020 and sickened 961,456 state residents in the past year.
Fayette reported 10 new cases Monday, taking its total to 10,760. Washington saw an increase of three cases, bringing its total to 14,182. Greene’s case-count grew by four to 2,739.